Abstract
Simple SummaryReductions in the numbers of chemical plant protection products that are approved and a move towards organic production has changed the way growers produce fruit in Europe. This is likely the result of public pressure and the need for less reliance on broad-spectrum interventions. This review summarises organic approaches that could be adopted as part of integrated pest management strategies in apple and pear orchards. It focuses on control methods to target key and emerging European insect pests through biological, cultural, and physical control strategies. Growers of organic tree fruit face challenges in controlling some pests more easily suppressed by broad-spectrum insecticides in conventionally managed orchards. In recent decades, there has been a move towards organically growing varieties normally reliant on synthetic chemical pesticides (e.g., Gala), often to meet retailer/consumer demands. This inevitably makes crop protection in organic orchards more challenging, as modern varieties can be less tolerant to pests. In addition, there have been substantial reductions in plant protection product (PPP) approvals, resulting in fewer chemical options available for integrated pest management (IPM)-maintained orchards. Conversely, the organic management of fruit tree pests involves many practices that could be successfully implemented in conventionally grown crops, but which are currently not. These practices could also be more widely used in IPM-maintained orchards, alleviating the reliance on broad-spectrum PPP. In this review, we evaluate organic practices, with a focus on those that could be incorporated into conventional apple and pear production. The topics cover cultural control, biological control, physical and pest modifications. While the pests discussed mainly affect European species, many of the methods could be used to target other global pests for more environmentally sustainable practices.
Highlights
The incentive for growers to adopt organic methods has been driven by consumer attitudes and an increased awareness of the impacts that some agricultural practices have on the environment [1]
Pest pressure in organic orchards can result in high yield losses, which may be difficult to estimate, direct damage to fruit caused by pests such as the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), can be quantified at harvest
Predatory mites can be introduced to suppress a wide number of pest mites, including the two spot spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch [116], fruit tree red spider mite, P. ulmi [117], apple rust mite, Aculus schlechtendali (Nalepa) [118], and pear rust mite, Epitrimerus pyri (Nalepa) [119]
Summary
The incentive for growers to adopt organic methods has been driven by consumer attitudes and an increased awareness of the impacts that some agricultural practices have on the environment [1]. An increase in the area of apples and pears grown, coupled with the recent and rapid reduction in the number of plant protection product (PPP) approvals, threatens the pome fruit industry. There have been additional yield losses due to fruit damage caused by sporadic pests that would have been suppressed by these broadspectrum products [12], e.g., damage by the forest bug Pentatoma rufipes (L.) [13]. Pest pressure in organic orchards can result in high yield losses, which may be difficult to estimate, direct damage to fruit caused by pests such as the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), can be quantified at harvest. This review focuses on organic strategies for achieving effective pest control in apple and pear orchards, with specific emphasis on European invertebrate pests. This review focuses on alternative methods to foliar products, with the exception of biopesticides including viruses, entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi
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